Stock vs. flow (economics)

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In economics, the distinction is often made between stock magnitudes and flow magnitudes. A "stock" is something one has on hand at a point of time (say December 31), which may have been accumulated in the past. It would be measured in units (such as dollars or tons). On the other hand, a "flow" is something that occurs over time and would be measured per unit of time (dollars or tons per month, year, and so forth). The diagram contrasts the flows of new investment (and of depreciation or depletion) with the stock of capital currently on hand.

A person or country might have stocks of money, financial assets, liabilities, wealth, real means of production, capital, and human capital (or labor power). Flow magnitudes besides those shown in the diagram include income, spending, saving, debt repayment, labor, or stocks averaged over a unit of time, such as the money in circulation per year.